It is applicable for the simulation and designing of complex functional units, such as safety control systems in nuclear power stations, systems for controlling robotized machine tools, etc.
It can be applied advantageously for the simulation and designing of functional modules, such as automatons or complex logic circuits with automatic or electric flight controls of an aeroplane.
In this application, the method of the invention makes it possible to grahically design and then, via an automatic translation operation, to obtain in a language or source-code the software modeling the functional modules of the flight controls of the aircraft. When this software has been elaborated, it is then used in a flight simulator so as to test the electric or automatic flight controls simulated in various flight conditions. According to the results of these tests, the graphic design is modified interactively, as shall be seen later in detail. After these modifications and once the test results have proved to be satisfactory, the source-code may be compiled so as to then obtain an executable code software which is then able to be stored in the memory of the computer on board the aircraft so as to control the functional modules constituted by automatons or logic circuits acting on the flight of the aircraft.
There currently exists no method for producing source-code software from graphic plates and able to model a complex set of functional modules able to be interactively modified extremely quickly according to the results of simulation tests of this functional unit in different operating conditions.
For a functional module, it is only possible to source-code model graphic plates corresponding to the functional portions of this module. However, when all the plates have been source-code translated, any modification of one of these plates, subsequent to tests for example, currently requires a new source-code translation of the modified plate but also requires a new source-code translation of all the other plates of the module. It is then necessary to check the functional coherence of each retranslated plate.
So as to model one functional portion of a module, it is possible to use, in a computer connected to display means, a graphic editing software stored in a memory connected to the computer so as to produce for the functional portions of this module (for example, automatic controls or logic circuits) graphic plates respectively corresponding to these functional portions. These plates are displayed by display means and are elaborated from a library of graphic symbols corresponding to the functional elements of each plate. This library is stored in the memory of the computer and makes it possible to describe the automatic controls and/or the logic circuits of each plate.
This editing software may be a "SAFIRS" software sold by the Societe ASSIGRAPH International.
Once this graphic editing has been carried out, it is possible to implement in the computer a precoding software stored in the memory of the computer so as to define each symbol of a plate by means of a precode comprising at least the qualifying attributes of the symbol and the input/output variables of this symbol. In fact, each symbol represents a functional element having at least one input and one output. Any variable or parameter characteristic of an input-applied signal corresponds to a variable or parameter characteristic of an output-collected signal in response to this input signal.
This precoding is effected from a precode library stored in the memory of the computer. For each plate, once this precoding has been carried out, a precoding file of the symbols of the plate is stored in the memory of the computer.
A precoding, such as the one described, is embodied by a "SCALP" software of the Societe AEROSPATIALE and commercialized by the Societe ASSIGRAPH International.
In the current state of the art, the modeling of a functional module thus consists of solely modeling separately, in the form of source-code expressed softwares, graphic plates corresponding respectively to the functional portions of this module without establishing any link or verification of coherence between the modeling softwares of these various plates.
This lack of any link and coherence verification constitutes a significant drawback in that it is impossible to rapidly have a single software to reliably model the unit of a module.